Desk top



April 20 ,1925.

7 P. M. WEGE niasx TOP I Filed August 4, 1924 Worms rn'rnn It. .WEGE, F GRAND RAPIDS,

. r 1,581,257" PATENT OFFICEQ MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO METAL OFFICE FURNI- runn COMPANY, or can-m) RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION or MICHIGAN.

" To all w ll-omit may concern:

Be it known that 1, PETER M. Wren, a

. citizen of the United States of America, re-

siding at Grand Ra ids, in the county of Kent and State of Liichigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Desk Tops; and I do hereby declare the,

metal desks.- It is desirable many times with.

desks of this character, that linoleum or similar wearing material be used to cover ,the top of the desk and itis an object and purpose of the present invention to produce 2 a particularly simple, novel and eflective ii constructionwherein the desk top ma be given a pleasing appearance, and a lino eum wearing member applied thereto and held in place surrounded by a metal border- A further object of the invention is to provide a novel construction, including separate parts, which may be interlocked and held together in their assembly in finishing the completedto and at the same time make a strong an 4 struction ofdesk top. Yarious other ob jects and purposes than those stated will appear as understanding of the invention is had from the folowing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which, v

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a corner of the desk top with parts broken away to illustrate the assembly of co the parts in the construction.

'Fig. 2 is a fragmentary illustration, in vertical section, of the several parts used in constructing the desk top, said parts being separated'from each other, and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical section through one side .or end of the desktop showing the parts in assembled relation.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the diiferent figures of the drawing. The desk pedestal may be made in any desired or well known manner having vertical' sides and ends 1 of sheet metal over which a top plate 2, located horizontally, is adapted to be placed extending over and projecting a short, distance beyond the sides Application filed August 4, 1824. Serial No. 729,882.

durable, and attractive con' while at its upper edge the inwardly inclined and ends of the pedestals, said top plate at its edges being formed with down turned flanges 3. Set in a short distance from the flanges 3 are Z-bars having upper inwardly extending flanges 4 which lie against the under side of the top plate 2 and are welded or otherwise permanently secured to the top plate. The vertical webs 5 of the Z-bars extend downwardly and outside of the sides and ends 1 of the desk pedestals and the lower flanges 6 are turned outwardly at right angles, projecting to points beyond the vertical planes of the flanges 3 of the top plate 2. The webs 5 of the Z-bars are secured to the sides and ends 1 of the pedestals by stove bolts 7 which pass through alined openings 8 made insaid webs 5 and the sides and ends of the pedestals, as shown in Fig. 3, this securing the top plate 2 in' fixed relation to the desk pedestals.

' An upper covering member 9 to present a top wearing surface for the desk is adapted to be placed on the top plate 2 and in practice is secured thereto by gluing. Preferably this cover member is of linoleum and has its ed es cut inwardly at an angle to the vertica as shown. Around the top plate 2 a frame is positioned made of thinner gage sheet metal than the metal user for the desk pedestals and for the plate 2, each side and end of'tlie frame including a longitudinal member having a vertical web 10, the upper portion of which is bent inwardly at the same angle that the sides and edges of the member 9 are cut as indicated at 10. The web 10 at its lower end is turned back u on itself into substantially U-shape, providing an inner leg 11 which parallels the web 10 section 10 is ent upon itself outwardly into a second U-sha-ped portion with an outer leg '12 paralleling the section 10. This frame is placed around the top plate 2'and the flanges 3 are received in the lower U- shaped portion seating between the legs 11 and the webs 10, as shown.

The top is completed by outer side and end border members of metal, each including a vertical section 13 at the lower edge of which a flange 14 is turned inwardly at right angles to pass below the lower flange 6 of the adjacent Z-bar. At the upper edge of the section 13 the metal is bent inwardly for a short distance to make a shoulder 15 and thence extended upwardly and inwardly 10 museum to make a section 16 inclined at the same angle as the parts 12, 10 and the sides and edges of the linoleum 9 so that said sections 16 may be received in the U-shaped portions between the parts 12 and 10 with i the sections 16 are forced as far as possible into the upper U-shaped portions of the inner border frame member. This makes a very secure and tight connection and one that is very quickly and easily assembled and put together.

The construction described is rigid and by use of such construction a pleasing and attractive appearance may be provided as the sections 13 may be finished with one finish while the legs 12 may be ofanother finish or of a different metal so as to present a contrasting appearance. Preferably the edges ofzthe linoleum 9 are cut inwardly at an angle, though the invention is not limited to -such formation, a d with the border frames and members a so inwardly inclined at their upper portions the linoleum is held against disengagement even if its glue connection with the top plate 2 should beeome disrupted. The parts are all readily formed from sheet metal and can be manufactured at low cost and assembled by labor having no particular skill. The invention is practical and, as defined in the appended clalms, is to be considered as comprehensive of all forms of structure coming within the scope of said claims.

I claim:

1. In a desk, a pedestal having vertical sheet metal walls, a top plate lying horizontally thereover, Z-bars located under the top plate having upper inwardly extending flanges secured to the under side of the .said plate and the vertical webs lying outside of and against the walls of the pedestal, means detachably securing the said webs and pedestal walls together, said top plate at its edges being formed with down-turned flanges, an intermediate border member of sheet metal located at each side and end of the top plate and formed at its lower portion with an inwardly and upwardly turned leg, forming a U into which the said flange of the top plate enters, and at its upper end being formed with an outwardly and clownwardly turned leg making a similar U- shaped construction, an outer border member of sheet metal located at each side and end of the top plate having a vertical portion received in said last mentioned iii-shaped construction and formed at its lower portion reams?" with an inturned horizontal flange passing under and spaced a short distance from the lower outturned flange of the adjacent Z- bar, bolts passing through said Z-bar and outer border member flanges to draw them toward each other, and a linoleum wearing member located above the said top plate having its edges surrounded by the upper portions of said intermediate border members, substantially as described.

2. A construction containing the elements in combination defined in claim 1, saidintermediate border members being bent inward 1y at an angle to the vertical and the edges of the linoleum being cut at a corresponding angle, and the upper portions of the outer border members being likewise bent inwardly at a like angle, substantially as described.

3. A construction containing the-elements in combination defined in claim 1, said outer border members at their upper portions being formed with a shoulder paralleling the upper edges thereof against which the I lower edge of the upper out-turned leg of the upper U-shaped construction bears, substantially as described.

1. In a desk, pedestals having sheet metal vertical walls, a sheet metal top plate connected to the pedestals and lying. above the same, an intermediate border member sur:

rounding the top plate and extending partly above the same, linoleum placed above the top plate within the upwardly projecting portions of the said intermediate border member, and an outer border member engaging with the said intermediate border member and connected with said pedestals, said intermediate border member also having connection with the top plate, substantially as described.

5. In a desk, pedestals having sheet metal adapted to force said lower part of the border member upwardly to make a tight interlocking connection of the parts, and linoleum located over the top plate within the upwardly extending portions of the upper part of the said border member, substantially as described.

6. in a desk, a top plate of rectangular form having down turned flanges at its edges, a Z-bar 'having an upper inwardly extending flange, a vertical web and lower outwardly extending flange secured to the under side of the top plate parallel a each edge thereof, an intermediate border member 5 surrounding the to plate, formed at its. lower end with a U shaped construction to interlock with the said flanges of the top plate and at its upper portion with a similar U-shaped construction, an outer border mem-, ber located below the intermediate border member having vertical portions the upper edges of which are received in the upper U-shaped construction of the intermediate border member, and inwardly extending flanges passing under and spaced from the outwardly extending flanges of the Z-bars, and bolts passing through the fflanges of said Z-bars and outer border member.

7. In combination, a top plate, a border member surrounding and detachably connected to the top plate, saidborder member projecting above the said top plate and being bent inwardly at an angle above the top plate and having its inner and outer sides parallel and located at the same angle to said top plate, and linoleum located on and above the top plate having its edges cut at the same angle as the upper portions of the border member and bearing at its edges against said border member.

8. In combination a to connected to and dependm from the top plate a short distance from t e edges thereof and paralleling said edges, each of said mem-' bers having an outwardly extending flange at its lower portion, an inner border member surrounding the top plate, extending above the same and interlocked therewith, an outer borde'r member surrounding the top plate inner border member and at its lower part formed with inturned flanges passing below and spaced from the outwardly extending flanges of said first members, and means passing through said flanges of said members and the outer border member for drawing the same toward each other, substantially as described. i In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

PETER M. WEGE.

plate, members,

having vertical portions interlocked with the 

